Refrigerating apparatus.



E. W. HOWELL.

REFRIGERATRNG APPARATUS.

APPucAUoN min APR, 11, w15.

Q @Mme oo E. W. HOWELL. REFBIGERATING APPARATUS. APPucmoN FILED APR. n, 1915.

Patented lpt. 12, 1916.

.UNITED STATES PATENT oEEioE.

EDWARD W. HOWELL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO .W. DEAN SMIT, 0F

. BROOKLYNQN EW YORK.

BEFRIGEBATING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

.Application led April 1,7, 1915. Serial No. 22,134.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWARD W. HOWELL, a citizen of ne United States, residing at Astoria, in the borough of Queens, city of New "York, county of Queens, and State .of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerating Apparatus, of'which the followingl is a specification.

My invention relates to refrigerating apparatus of the still and absorber type, and it has for its object to improve apparatus of this kind and provideJ for the automaticoperation thereof, as will be described and pointedv out in the following specification. One great difliculty, experienced in operating with known types of automatic refrigerating apparatus has been that the back pressure in lthe absorber and the refri ery ating coil has been sulicient to inter ere with and often prevent free movement of the ammonia in the several stages of its,

How.

The present invention has for one of its objects to overcome this difficulty.

The invention has been devised with especial reference to simplifying and making compact the apparatus, thereby adapting it for use in dwellings, hotels, restaurants, clubs, etc., where comparatively small refrigerating units are required".l The apparatus, as will be pointed out, is adapted to efl'cctively accomplish the steps of vaporizing or distilling, condensing, expanding, and freely absorbing, ammoniacal vapors for refrigerating purposes. i

I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings the preferred form of my invention, without, however, intending thereby to limit the invention in its practical applications to all of the details of construction and arrangement which appear in the said drawings. v

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of retrigerating apparatus embodying my improvements, p arts being illustrated in section. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the apparatus. Fig. 3 is a detail view, partly in section, and largely diagrammatic in character, of the automatic valves employed in the apparatus. Fig. 4 is a detail view illustrating the connection through which the expansion valve is operated. Fig. 5 is an end view of the controlling valve 3() showing Some of the pipes or conduits connected therewith.

` Referring to the drawings, 2 represents the still and absorber of the apparatus. It is in the form of a tight metal cylinder resting upon suitable supports, 3.

4 indicates the receiver foithe liquefied ammonia. It is preferably located, for compactness and convenience of arrangement, directly below the retort 2 and is supported within a water-containing vessel 5 that constitutes the condenser of the system. Means are provided for heating the still, and I have illustrated for that purpose a gas burner 6 located longitudinally of and directly below the cylindrical still. A line of piping, 7 for conveying away the ammoniacal vapors, connects with the upper portion of the still and leads to the receiver 4. In this line of piping is located a pressure gage 8 and a check valve 9. A water supply pipe 10 leads to the water container 5 of the condenser, and another pipe l1 leads therefrom for conveying away the Water after it has served its purpose in condensing. A pipe or conduit 1Q leads from the lower part of the receiver 4 to the expansion coil 13, and other piping or vapor conduit, 14, connects the expansion coil with the still-absorber,

entering the latter in its lower part and preferably directly over the burner 6. The portion of the piping 14 that is within the still-absorber tank extends through it for practically its entire length,A and is indicated by the character 15, it bein perforated to permit the ready escape o the vapors or gases being delivered into the tank 2 wherethey are reabsorbcd by the water contained therein. A check valve 16 is located in the line of piping '14 and prevents back pressure from the still-absorber affecting the How of vapor through the system.

The parts of the apparatus thus far described are of general and well known construction and operation, and may be vai-lcd widely in detail without affecting my present invention. The drawings illustrating these parts of the system are largely diagrammatic.

Within the tank 2 constituting the still and absorber is mounted a diaphragm 17, that extendsrfroin end to end of the tank and is, in the main, of the same shape as varied by'adjusting v.the-connection between the float and the stem of the valve, the arm- 26 being represented in Fig. 4 as adjustable relative to the oat 24, for this purpose.

ItA will-be understood. that the operations of the expansion valve and of the heater G are carried on alternately, and I have devisedzand herein shown automatically operating mechanism for controlling the operations-. of thesetwo parts of the apparatus. This prefei'ablyconsists of a valve arrange mentf, designated-.asa whole by 30, arranged to hfcontrolled by a float 31 located `in a wateli-,rvessel 32.."'Ilhis vessel is supplied with waterlfthrough a pip'e y33 and is emptied 'throfigyl a siphon34. T-lie supply pipe 33 is connected with the main water supply pipe with which it has constant communicti'on.' The pipe 35 also serves to supply the pipel10,through'which water passes to thejfvssel, where it serves tol condense the amme-i'iia vapors driven off during .the distillation-period,-as well asthe pipe 28'` that supplies the ,Water vessel 23. T lie'valve arrangement 30` is, however, interposed between'the Supply-pipe 35 and the pipes 10 and 281i s'o`that tlieglatter are supplied only when the valve is in proper position. `The branch pipe connections between the pipe 35 and the valve 0 are designated respectively 10' and 28. The valve 30 is compound in its nature and it consists of a casing 3G preferably of cylindrical form, and a plugllf? rotatable therein. The `plugis mounted upon or ,Secured to a stein 38 to which is secured van arnrf) that is connected by a link 4() with the float. 31. There are several ducts or channels through the plugr of the valve. "One of these, 41, is adapted to estabA lisli communication between the supply pipes 28 andl 28', leading from the main water supply pipe. 35 to the vessel 23, when the valve is adjusted to proper position, the said supply pipes being connected to the 'casing of the valve 3() and coinniunicatingr with apertures therein that register respecti vely with the ends of the channel 4l. Another channel 42 through the valve, plug is arranged to put into communication the water pipes 10, l0 by which the condenser is supplied u'itliivatei for lv'eeping it cool.

The third channel through the plug of the valve, 48, is adapted to put into communication two pipes, 44 and 45, that connect withthe casing of the valve, the former of these pipes, 44, being the mainY gas supply pipe, and the latter, 45, the supply pipe leading from the valve, 30, to the burner 6., The channels in the valve plug are so disposed that the water channel 42 and the gas chanl nel 43 simultaneously. register with ,andi unite the sections of pipewith whichtheyA cooperate, so that wateris supplied t0 the vessel surrounding thev condenser and rei.

ceiving,r tank 4, and gasiis supplied to the burner 6, when'the valve is vin one position, f

this being the osition assumed during the distillation period of operation, thel channel@ 41 then occupying a position out ofregister with the pipes 28 and 28,', communication` between which is thus cut off so that thc vessel 23 is not supplied with water during this period. When the period of expansion and absorptionarrives the valve is adjuSted to a position in which the channel 41 unites' the water `supply pipes 28 and 28', while l the channels 42 and 43 areout ofregisten with the pipes they are adapted respectively to unite, so that the gas is cut offffrom thei burner 6 and the flow of water through the vessel fr' is discontinued. A The size of the vessel 32 and the volume of water per'unit of tiinedelivered through the, 5

supply pipe 3? are so related that the vessel 32 is filled and emptied once in every. twenty-folli' hours, the 'emptying .',ibeing rapid and taking only a negligible v period of-time. z

The float 31, likethe float 24, has'iiv lost ioo motion connectionflwith thevalve that it con I.

trois, andthe connections are so adjusted int an apparatus arranged as is thatlierein .being described, thattlie. valve occupies a position with the channel 41 uniting'r the pipes `twenty-two hours,and, the fioat 31 then coming into operation and shifting the valve plug, the channels 42 and 431 are brought into register with thespipes tlieyunite, so that water is supplied to the\'essel 5 and gasto the burner 2 for two hours of the twenty-four. 2 l

AIn order. that the supply of ivatei-to the vvessel 32 may be regulated. l provide the supply pipe :5I- with a reducingr valve 46.

The operation of the apparatus muy now he descrilmd, it beingassumedI that the distillation period has just been cmnplcte laiul the available ammonia employed in the system has been condensed and-is in the rcthat supply the vessel 23 withhwater during,

its work of .operating and controlling the expansion valve. The intermittent action of this valve, which is continued, inthe apparatus described, for twenty-two hours, operates to admit charges ofainmonia to the J refrigerating coil where it 'expands into gas and exerts a rerigeratin'g act-ion, the gas passing from the refrigeratingicoils-back to the tank 2wheregitis'absorbedby the Water contained therein. v'After this operation'has continued for the' desired length of time,

twenty-two hours` in the instance supposed,

This cycle of voperations .is'irepeated again and againv and it is entirelyautomatc.

What I claim is.-

' -1. 'In a refrigerating apparatus, a still and absorber, consisting of a. tank' for the aminoniacal liquor, in which islocated a diaphragm extending from 'endfto end of the tank, substantiallyparallel/ with the shell thereof,'cut away f inf its-lower portion and having Wings thatfuiiite the/edges formed by the said cut away part with'the shell ofthe tank,` and perforated in its-upper .and its lower parts to permit and facilitate. cir culation, and av burner arranged to apply heat externally to the shellof 'the tanlrv di- 'rectlybelow the cutaway part ofthe diaphragm a'iidbetween said wings' thereof. SZ.v In a refrigerating apparatus, a still and absorber, consisting' of a tank for the 'an1moniacal:liquor,-in which is located a diaphragm extendingfrom en d 'to end of thetank and substantially parallel Ywith the Shell thereof, Athe 'lower portion of thel diaphragm being cut, away.v and Vthe 'upper portion thereof. perforated to permit circulation of the vliquor from the space inc'i'oscd by the diaphragm tothe spi-ace 'between it and the shell of the. tank, -a heater arranged to apply heat externally-to the shell of the tank directly A.below the x--said cut .awaypa rtr of the diaphragm, `and-pa; perforated return pipe for' deliveringr the ammonia gas to 'be reabsorbed, located. within the tank between the 'edges formed by the cut away. part of 3. Injrefrigerating apparatus of the still and absorber type., comprising a valve controlling the 'flow of the volatile liquid to the expansion chambers .of the system, automatically operated means for intermittently opening andiosing tho said valve during the refrigerating period of the operation of draulically operated; automatic means for intermittentiy opening 'and Vclosing the said.

valve durin the refrigerating period of the operation'o the apparatus. A

5.In refigerating apparatus in which' the refrigerating elects are secured by the expansion of a volatile liquid, the combina'- tioii with a container for the liquid, an expansion coil, and a conduit vbetween these two, of an expansion valve in said-conduit, a oat connected with and arranged to op, erate the said valve, a liquid-containing ves-v sel in which the float is arranged, and means for regularly filling-and emptying the said vessel whereby the floatis caused to operate. the expansion valve intermittently.

6. In an automatic refrigerating apparatus in which the refrigerating effects. are se cured by the expansion of ajvolatile liquid, the combination with a vessel serving alteriiately as a stilljand as an absorber, a con* denser and collec-torffcr `the rei'igerating l li uid-f an, ex` ansion' coil and circulating` r. c, pipesconnccting these elements in. series, of an automatic,valre arraged to permit the flow of tlie' "refr-igerating liquida. from the collector thereior to'"tlie epansioii'coil, varrangedto open andclose-agregular intervals of time during thereirigerating period 7. In refrigerating--apparatus' of theyalve arranged topper-ate the .valve intermittently during the period ofrefrig eration, Ythe periods of operation Ybeing rela-A tively short, and other intermittently op-I erating means arranged to control the op# 'eration of the nieans'thatfwork the: expan sion -\'alv,e,ithe period .of operatic-ii of the last said intermittently operating means being of relatively long dnrati0n.

S. 'In' an automatic .refrigerating apparatus of the still and Vabsorber type, the com hination with va still and absorber, a conf.. denser and collector for the liquefied refri'g'ferating agent, and anexpansion coil, these parts being connected in series, of an automatic intermittently operating valve for controlling flow to the expansion coil during Ythe period of refrigeration, Vand automatic means for cutting outthe ope-ration of the said Avalve, leaving it in ,condition to prevent flow to the refrigerati'ii coil, at the vend of the refrigerating perio' and for restoring it to operation at the end of the distillation period, the said means being time-controlled in operation.'

automata@ Widget-ating apparatus fl, nl amvb-m type, the. Cumby simultaneously but alternately with the lqH uid supply that (qryemtes the expansion valve, und mman-1 for operating; the said control!in@f wif-e :intexmittently'.

El?, ln ziel'gi-,xating apparatus in whffh the refrigemtng effects are secured, by the expm'lsinn. nf :x volatile liquid.) the combinat'wn with it container for the said liquid, .n expansion coil and a. conduit between these two, wt an expansion valve in the said rwlmluit, am] means for Operating the valve Qmtonmtcally, arranged. to alternately open unil close '1t during uniform, relatively short, periods; of time while refrgemting ope/mtt'mn is taking place.

EDWARD W. HOWELL. lvtnesses:

DMU) W. THOMPSON, THSME M. DUAN/E. 

